Kin —
Pollution Badge —
2015, Kin —

This is a research project looking at how wearable and ‘nearable’ technology can help tackle air quality issues and change behaviours. The badge monitors local environmental conditions to check whether pollution levels are getting too high. If they are, an email is drafted, via a paired smartphone, to the relevant Member of Parliament.

The badge extends the smartphone's sensing capabilities, and the pairing enables the pollution information to be tagged with various metadata. This allows the user to contribute useful statistics to a community generated pollution map, reassessing their own travelling routes and lobbying for more systemic change from councils and government.

We developed a collection of prototype objects focussing on specific contexts. These prototypes can be attached to bikes to provide road specific information and cover a wide area, or strapped to a buggy to monitor low lying pollution that particularly effects infants.